Technie Mom

I know that most kids have moms who have frantically asked them for tech support one way or another from operating the DVD player to working the computer, sending email or text messages. But hey, not all moms are clueless about technology.

My article today features other techie moms who absolutely swear that "this is the only way to fly" and fend in today’s world. Let’s take a look at how they deal with it.

Rosanna Pedraja, mother of three boys simply can’t live without technology. She considers being a house wife as a full-time, although unpaid, job. She juggles her time wisely, driving the kids to school in the morning, but not before she gives clear cut instructions to the mayordoma what to buy for the day’s meals. Once she gets home from taking the kids, she gets into her exercise gear and heads for the mini gym in the back house. Fifteen minutes on the treadmill, 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer then on to the sauna and a cold shower. After lunch, she then watches her fave shows on the Lifestyle channel then turns on her Mac book where she does her emails and blogs. This mom blogs for the fun of it, but soon got hooked and eventually started her online desk top publishing business. Three months running and her small online biz now does invites for any occasion as well as party favors.

Hazel Gamboa, A book keeper, is a mother of four kids, two girls and 2 boys, their ages ranging from 3 to 12. She works as a Bookkeeper while her husband is a CPA at a big firm. Their joint income pretty much covers all of their kids’ needs but what about mommy’s gadget whims? "I like to have the latest things. I make sure I upgrade my cell phone (she has an IPhone) at least every 6 months. We have a PC in the house where I supervise my 9 and 12 year olds’ usage and make sure they just use it to surf for answers to their homework. For the little one, I make sure he just goes online either in cartoonetwork.com or Barney site to learn the basics and play wholesome games."

Maui Raymundo, Account Executive and a single mother of two says she can’t live without a cell phone and a lap top. "I have a 15-year old daughter and a 5-year old son who I constantly keep tabs on. I can do this easily through a cell phone. Cell phones aren’t allowed in the classrooms but I feel pretty secure knowing that it’s in their bags and that I could get in touch with them via SMS or calling them on their break just to check. With regards to my lap top, I don’t think anyone who works doing sales and marketing should ever leave their homes without one. Presentations are more conveniently done and work made so much easier!"

As for me? Ever since I started writing for this paper and had this column, I seemingly have become some sort of a "resource on techiness for moms?" I can’t believe how many emails I get asking me which brand of appliances I think work best, what the latest cell phones are? Well, I now double the time I spend trying to figure out which is the best—if it’s between the new Nokia N Series and the latest Samsung or Motorola or which gadgets and gizmos are best for moms so I can include it in my next Mother’s Day shopping guide.

I wanna make sure my reviews are practical. Eventually, I wanna start a collective of mom bloggers. I think it’s a way to create a community for moms to connect with one another. Being a mom may be quite isolating that’s why I feel blogging is one way of "release" for us.

I do appreciate those who write in to ask me for advice but I also know that not all moms read the newspapers. There’s an increasing number of moms who spend more time on the computer and the Net that is why I’ve started writing and posting my articles on my Multiply and even Facebook. There ‘s a huge group of moms who are using Friendster, Multiply and Facebook. I want to get blogs or chats stirred up about technology and parenting too!

It may be hard to believe but studies show that mothers are often the ones making technology purchases for the home--even if dads are the ones typically geeking out about gadgets. I’ve been fascinated by technology and its development since day 1. I went through the transition from punch cards to mainframes. I was around when the Web started getting hot and when people used to have to pay for software.

I remember getting my very first laptop – it was a most exciting thing! Having had a job that entailed traveling a lot (this was in the US years back), it was so cool going on business trips with my lappy. I can’t imagine life without it.